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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: I'll Completely Ruin You
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“Who are you calling your father?”
Cedric glared at Roje with fierce eyes that seemed to devour everything. Roje wasn’t surprised by Cedric’s cold retort, refusing to acknowledge her greeting. She knew well how Cedric and Tersia had treated her. Roje click-clacked her way towards Cedric. As Roje walked slowly, the servants collectively swallowed dryly. They unconsciously tensed at Roje's demeanor, as if she were walking on thin ice. Roje looked different from usual. The Roje who always bowed subserviently before Cedric now stood with her back straight. When she was with Cedric, she used to be like a herbivore trembling before a beast, but today, she seemed unusually at ease. The servants exchanged uneasy glances and whispered lowly.
“Will the Countess be alright?”
“They say she suffered short-term memory loss after the miscarriage. She wouldn’t have forgotten who the former Count is, would she?”
“Given that she called him ‘father,’ it doesn’t seem like she’s completely forgotten… I’m worried something might happen.”
The servants gazed at Roje with uneasy eyes. Roje, whether she knew they were worried about her or not, still appeared at ease. Standing opposite Cedric, Roje lowered herself onto the sofa.
“You called for me, I believe.”
“……”
Cedric glared at Roje with narrowed eyes. The way one of his eyebrows rose when he was displeased was exactly like his son, Eric.
‘What audacity does she have to be so confident?’
Roje’s unusual demeanor felt foreign. She was always the one who couldn’t meet his gaze, her anxious eyes darting around. She even stammered when speaking, making it difficult to understand what she was saying, showing such frustration. What on earth possessed her today to stare him directly in the eye?
‘…Insolent. Just like her mother.’
Her snow-white skin complementing her pink hair, and her delicate features. Roje bore a striking resemblance to her mother in her youth. That damned woman who manipulated him with her innocent face, then married Count Serviat, his rival.
‘Ribera…’
He recalled Ribera, his first love, superimposed over Roje’s image. The woman he had given his all to, yet who had discarded him like an old shoe.
‘I told you I’d make you regret not choosing me.’
He knew well how shabby a life the fallen Serviat family led. By now, she was probably madly regretting marrying Count Serviat instead of him.
‘You may realize how incompetent and insignificant the Count you chose is, and how great a man I am, but it’s already too late.’
The love he once held for Ribera had long since vanished. What filled his empty chest was not longing or affection, but rage. Ribera’s treasure, Roje. Cedric wanted to completely ruin Roje. It would be the greatest pain he could inflict on Ribera for not choosing him. Cedric twisted his lips into a sneer, imagining Ribera kneeling at his feet, shedding tears. He slowly scanned Roje’s porcelain-like skin. His snake-like eyes gleamed with madness.
‘I can’t just let her divorce quietly.’
After the divorce, that pretty face, so like Ribera’s, would surely charm another man. Though he hadn’t acknowledged it, Roje was legally the mistress of the Wens family. He could not tolerate Roje joining another noble household. He planned for his son, Eric, to remarry, but he would absolutely not allow Roje to remarry.
“Do you not even know why I came?”
Cedric scolded Roje, looking at her with a disdainful gaze.
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
Roje feigned ignorance and widened her eyes, pretending not to know what Cedric was saying.
“Is your brain merely for decoration?”
Cedric spat out insulting words casually. At his attitude, Roje’s eyes turned cold. Cedric didn’t miss the fleeting moment her expression changed.
‘They say even a worm will squirm if you step on it. How amusing.’
It was novel to see Roje, who had always trembled like a frightened rabbit, now looking at him with defiant eyes. Just as Cedric was about to utter more words of mockery, *creak*. A man with a cold demeanor opened the door and entered. The man, whose one eye was covered by a black eyepatch, had a face covered in hideous scars. He took a spot by the door and gazed at Cedric. Then, as if giving a signal, he nodded his head.
‘It seems the work was handled properly.’
A satisfied smile spread across Cedric’s face at the man’s nod. But that was only for a moment. Cedric then glared at Roje with a sharp expression.
“Tsk, I have nothing more to say to a deficient wretch like you.”
With those words, he abruptly rose from his seat. Then, without looking back, he strode out of the reception room.
“What? How anticlimactic…”
She had been worried she might even get slapped. Unexpectedly, Cedric retreated quite docilely.
“Why did he call me in the first place? Did he just call me to insult me?”
She couldn’t shake off an uneasy feeling. She had sensed an ominous aura from Cedric’s eyes, which had been filled with madness until the very end.
“Am I just being too sensitive…?”
Roje trailed off, then rose from her seat. It was unsettling, but ultimately nothing had happened, so wasn’t that enough? she thought. She let out a deep sigh and walked towards the door to leave the reception room. She grabbed the red doorknob of the reception room and pulled it open. Roje couldn’t hide her dismay.
“Madam!”
Because a crowd of servants was gathered in front of the door. They looked at Roje with worried expressions, their arms full of napkins.
“What’s going on, everyone? Why are you all gathered here? And what’s that in your hands?”
“Are you alright?”
“Madam! You’re alright, aren’t you?”
They didn’t answer Roje’s questions, instead examining her face with tearful expressions.
“Huh? Alright? What about?”
“The former Count came to visit, you see.”
“Did he not say anything harsh today?”
The servants clustered tightly around Roje. They were all filled with worry for Roje.
‘Surely… are they gathered here because of me right now? Because they’re worried about me?’
Only then did Roje realize. The reason they had rushed over so breathlessly. Their worried expressions and hands full of napkins. They had rushed to comfort Roje. Because every time Cedric visited, Roje inevitably shed tears.
“That’s a relief. That Madam didn’t cry today.”
Seeing the servants who had rushed to her side, Roje felt a warmth well up in her chest.
‘What am I, to deserve this…’
She didn’t know how the original Roje treated them, but she herself didn’t remember treating the servants particularly well. Of course, she hadn’t been mean to them either. She hadn’t done anything for them, yet they worried about her like friends, like family… It was a warmth she hadn’t felt in a long time. The feeling of not being alone, of having someone by her side.
“We are always on your side, Madam.”
It was just a few words, but why did they bring such comfort?
“Thank you, everyone.”
She had thought she was alone all this time, but Roje wasn’t alone. The servants, gathered closely, hugged Roje. A warm comfort bubbled up. Spring had passed, but the gentle spring breeze softly permeated Roje’s heart.
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***
At that same time. Cedric and his subordinate, having left the reception room. They glanced around, exchanging secret looks.
“So, the task was handled well, I presume?”
“Yes. As instructed, ‘that thing’ has been placed in Roje’s room.”
“And the letter was well-written?”
“Do not worry. A letter signed by Count Eric was enclosed with it. That child will likely be thrilled, thinking the Count gave her a gift, completely unaware.”
At the subordinate’s words, Cedric’s expression relaxed in satisfaction. Cedric’s purpose in seeking Roje today was clear. To make Roje pay a price for overstepping her bounds. While he was with Roje in the reception room, he had ordered his subordinate to place a ‘gift’ in her room. He also didn’t forget to instruct him to make it seem as if Eric had given the gift. This was his idea, thinking that if Cedric, who usually treated Roje with disdain, directly gave her a gift, it might arouse suspicion.
“It’s only natural for someone who overstepped their bounds to be punished, isn’t it?”
“You are absolutely right, Master.”
The subordinate nodded, agreeing with the pleased Cedric.
“Good. There were no mistakes, I trust?”
“Everyone’s attention was focused on the reception room, so they didn’t even pay attention to her room.”
“Well done. My plan worked perfectly.”
Cedric’s sinister smile exuded a dark aura, almost on par with Satan’s.
“The effect will be certain, won’t it?”
“Do not worry. We have completed biological experiments on animals as well as prisoners. The effect has been thoroughly verified, as reported.”
“I’m looking forward to it. The ‘product’ making its debut in the world.”
Cedric’s face was a mixture of anticipation and excitement. However, an odd, uncomfortable feeling also subtly crept up. Everything was proceeding according to his plan, yet… Roje’s face flickered before Cedric’s eyes. No, to be precise, it was her mother, Ribera.
‘Cedric.’
Along with the auditory hallucination of her beautiful voice calling his name, the image of Ribera smiling, her eyes curved into crescents, danced before his eyes. Cedric pushed Ribera, who was stirring his mind, far away.
‘Disgusting.’
He twitched an eyebrow and gnawed at his lower lip. Then, he and his subordinate walked towards the underground storage room within the mansion. The Wens family’s underground storage room, where unauthorized persons were forbidden. Yet, someone was hiding in the secret storage room, where no one should have been.
“Oh, seriously. It definitely rolled this way.”
It was Jane. Jane, unaware that Cedric was approaching, stomped her feet, searching for something. Her ring had rolled down the stairs of the underground storage room and disappeared into a gap under the door. She had secretly taken the key to the underground storage room and unlocked the door, while everyone’s attention was focused on Roje and Cedric. If she were caught entering this place, she would not only be kicked out but might also face severe punishment. But the ring was so precious to her that she risked the danger and hid here. *Thump-thump*. Footsteps sounded. Jane, who had been looking around without even daring to turn on the light for fear of being caught, belatedly noticed. The sound of footsteps approaching this place.
“Gasp! S-surely, no one’s coming, are they?”
She needed to hide quickly! Jane’s body stiffened and froze as the footsteps grew louder. Her heart pounded rapidly.
‘W-what should I do?’
As a flustered Jane stood helpless, *click*! The sound of the doorknob turning echoed. Her unfocused eyes trembled like an aspen leaf. The dark basement. As the old iron door opened with a *creak*, Jane’s pupils dilated. A thin ray of sunlight squeezed through the narrow gap in the door. With a shuffling sound of footsteps, a massive shadow descended the stairs.
‘The former Count must be coming.’
Cedric, who had visited the Count’s mansion early that morning. His face came to mind. Only members of the Wens Count family could enter this forbidden place. Jane barely managed to regain her composure and looked around. To find a place to hide before they fully descended. As she turned her head with anxious eyes, *thud*!
“M-mmph!”
Someone covered Jane’s mouth from behind.
‘I-I’ve been caught!’
Someone else was in the underground storage room with her! Fear drained the blood from her face and consumed her body. The more Jane struggled, the tighter the mysterious hand squeezed her body.
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